Rutgers Scandal

To the extent that Rutgers offers a lesson, it is about the need for institutional leadership to provide a higher level of attention to athletics programs, most especially those programs that are or have moved more intentionally to greater national prominence.

If we can learn anything from this latest Rutgers controversy, it is that in a "student-centered" athletic environment, the student athletes ought to be consulted and taken seriously, particularly when allegations of abuse arise.

I can tell you from personal experience that the bureaucratic inefficiency at Rutgers makes transferring classes or campuses an absolute administrative nightmare. But transferring blame takes almost no effort at all.

As long as schools place winning -- and the ticket sales winning generates -- above the welfare of the students, it seems unlikely we are going to see athletic directors and presidents alter their behavior.